Not that I don't get enough research time in with PD...ha, I am most curious about the apparent links between ET and PD. Largely, I am concerned because I was initially diagnosed with ET and for 6 years, my tremor looked and acted only like ET. It wasn't until 2007, it started to look and act suspiciously. When I was upgraded to PD, my neuro suggested that I may have both disorders as my tremor is still a little atypical for PD. I've also read here and in other forums many receive an initial ET diagnosis.

This leads me to wonder, how many of us young onset PD people are given an ET diagnosis instead of a 'possible PD' because our MDSs and Neuros just aren't sure? OR, is ET really just an early manifestation of a milder form of PD?

Here are some very interesting facts collected over the last several years and published at Dana Foundation's Brain Web: Shedding Light on a Tremor Disorder

Autopsy of ET people show presence of Lewy Bodies in the brain and in 80% degeneration in the cerebellum and impact on the neurotransmitter GABA.

Clinically a person with ET is 4-5 times more likely to develop PD.


Clinically, essential tremor is now considered a neuropsychiatric disease that can include unsteadiness, abnormal eye movements, problems with coordination and cognitive changes that sometimes progress to dementia.

Rick, does this sound familiar?

Even certain personality types tend to be overrepresented among patients with essential tremor, Dr. Louis said. Many “are very detail-oriented and tightly wound and have higher harm-avoidance scores,” he said.

Toxins in the brain including lead and harmane (a toxic byproduct from grilling meats) are leading environmental triggers.

My thoughts are that this is just one thing along the PD continuum; I am beginning to think that ET is really an early, early expression of what may evolve into a tremor dominant PD. What's interesting is what this means? If it's early on and stays just a tremor, what causes progression in some people, but not others? What do the differences and similarities translate to for PWP in researching etiologies and in developing treatment?

Anyway, wondering how many of you presented with an action or postural tremor only and told it was ET? What do you make of these findings?

Laura